Local

HIGH SPRINGS – High Springs City Commissioners easily approved an interlocal agreement between High Springs and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for enhanced police services within the CRA district. The agreement is specifically for CRA-sponsored events and begins Oct. 1, 2020 and ends Sept. 30, 2021. Renewal of the agreement is for successive one-year terms upon written consent of both parties.

The agreement stipulates that the CRA will pay the City monthly for services at a rate of $37 per hour. In exchange the City agrees to assign police officers to cover the CRA area for specified times, excluding Pioneer Days and the tree lighting event, both of which are Chamber of Commerce events.

In the agreement it is anticipated that 208 hours of additional services within the CRA District will be required, which includes 130 hours of additional holiday patrol for a total anticipated payment of $7,713. At least 27 of those hours are reserved for Folk in the Springs, which is currently scheduled for September 2021.

The agreement stipulates how payments will be made to the City and the City will provide semi-annual and annual law enforcement activity reports in the District.

This item had been previously discussed in the CRA meeting, and approval of the agreement was unanimous.

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NEWBERRY ‒ There is a new restaurant in an old location in Newberry. In the historic downtown area, at 25405 W. Newberry Road, there stands a two-story brick building built in 1906. Originally the downstairs portion was a general store and upstairs was The Commercial Hotel.

At the time Newberry was a phosphate mining town and railroad junction that was established in the 1880s. As the town grew with over 16 mining operations in the area, more commercial brick buildings were built, including the hotel. Over the years it has had many incarnations and was home of the well-known Backyard BBQ restaurant for a number of years. Two years ago, the restaurant closed and the building sat vacant.

New owner Jamie Griffin has been in the restaurant business for 35 years, and he currently owns the Lighthouse in Fanning Springs and Bett's Big T in Chiefland.

Griffin spent two years renovating the building back to its original appearance. Now, from the brickwork to flooring, the restaurant reflects the way the building looked more than a century ago. Griffin is honoring the building’s rich history by naming the new eatery The 1906 Farmhouse Restaurant.

After the restoration, the restaurant opened its doors to the public on Sept. 17, 2020. The 1906 Farmhouse Restaurant will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast menu offers traditional breakfast platters, pancakes and waffles and omelets. The lunch menu features sandwiches, salads and burgers while the dinner menu offers chicken, steak and fried seafood platters along with sandwiches, salads and burgers.

Griffin says they will have blue plate specials that will rotate daily. On Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m., they will feature an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet that features crab legs for $26 per person. The restaurant also has a smaller kids menu as well as beer and wine for the adults.

Griffin lives in Fanning Springs where he has The Lighthouse restaurant, but now spends most of his time with the new restaurant.

“I am lucky with good managers at my other locations, which allows me to get this new restaurant off the ground. I felt that it would fit Newberry's character with its traditional country style fare. It’s a little country, a little steak, a little seafood,” said Griffin. “People in Newberry don’t have to go all the way out to Gainesville for food, but at the same time, people in Gainesville can take a trip out if they want to get away to the country.”

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NEWBERRY ‒ The City of Newberry will no longer be performing cemetery internment services. A legislative hearing relating to updates to the cost of cemetery lots was conducted on Sept. 14 and received approval on second and final reading. Ordinance 2020-15 updates the City’s policy to remove the cost of lots and cemetery operational services and move those costs to the Fees and Fine resolution approved as part of the annual budget process.

In addition, the cost of internment, the actual excavation of the gravesite for installation of the vault and the covering of the vault after the funeral, which has been charged by the City, will now be deleted from the costs as internment is performed by the presiding funeral home.

Director of Utilities and Public Works Jamie Jones said the regulations for the daily operation of the cemetery are in the form of an ordinance and can only be modified by amending the ordinance. By moving this item to the Fees and Fine resolution, changes can be made in the future by updating that document as part of the annual budget process.

“Currently, the actual internment is performed by the City Public Works Department. The Cemetery Ordinance identifies a cost for this service at a minimum of $400 to be collected by the City of Newberry, which is in addition to any and all charges by the presiding funeral home,” said Jones.

After researching seven municipally-owned cemeteries in the general area, Jones found that in every case the actual opening and closing of the gravesite was performed by the funeral home providing the funeral service. In addition, Jones found that the cost of internment is part of the funeral services package for most funeral homes, regardless if the funeral home opens or closes the grave site.

The City has developed a Policy and Procedure Manual for the operation of the City Cemetery. As part of this action, the Commission adopted the manual and authorizes the City Manager to maintain and amend the policies and procedures as necessary to meet the needs of the City and its citizens, as well as to ensure compliance with federal and state laws.

This item was unanimously approved on second reading.

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ALACHUA ‒ The City of Alachua has been awarded the Florida League of Cities (FLC) Hometown Health Award that recognizes health members that meet the nine best practice standards for employee health promotion.

The FLC is government sector lobbying association and is a member of the National League of Cities (NLC), which is a advocacy organization that represents the country's 19,495 cities, towns, and villages along with 49 state municipal leagues. In Florida there are 411 participating municipalities. The FLC lobbies on both a state legislature and federal congressional level for programs and education that help cities improve their local government and living conditions of the towns’ residents.

The FLC recognition included "the City of Alachua has not only achieved great participation in Hometown Health, but has also demonstrated a true commitment to employee well-being. Employers play such a vital role in creating a workplace that supports a healthy environment and health conscious culture.”

FLC Health Account Executive Lindsey Larson presented the award to the City Commission at the Sept. 14, 2020 Commission meeting. She noted the City's accomplishments in safety training in all areas of city operations, special reviews and training by outside consultants, health screening and the City's support by contributing 50 percent toward health club memberships for employees.

The City maintains a variety of wellness incentive programs throughout the year. Most recently, a step challenge to encourage more active behaviors, was completed with great success. Participants electronically recorded walking step numbers for five straight weeks. The total number of steps recorded was a staggering 8,281,168, which is the equivalent of 3,845 miles. This is just one example of the programs administered by the City that promote a healthy and safe workforce. The award specifically recognized the efforts of the Compliance and Risk Management Department under the direction of Grafton (Cap) Wilson. Larson also cited the efforts of Compliance and Risk Management Coordinator Anne Marie DiRocco, Human Resource Manager Donna Meyers, and Lisa Freeman from the Human Resources Department and Robert Purdy, Safety Specialist for the City.

The Alachua City Commission has issued a proclamation commemorating Constitution Week. The Constitutional Convention Public Law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States designating Sept. 17 – 23 to be Constitution Week to celebrate and commemorate the drafting of the Constitution. At the Sept. 14 meeting the City Commission presented Kay Hall, Regent for the Gainesville Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, with a proclamation announcing the recognition of Constitution Week.

In other business, the Commission turned their attention to financial matters and infrastructure. During the month of August 2020, the city manager presented the City Commission with the proposed FY 2020-21 budget by major fund types. The tentative budgets presented, at that time, totaled $40,644,612, which is $12,049,821 less than the FY 2019-20 amended budget of $52,694,433. The General Fund tentative budget is based on a tax rate of 5.3900 mills. This tentative millage rate is 4.83 percent more than the rolled-back rate of 5.1416 mills.

A final public hearing on these matters will be held at the Sept. 28, 2020 Commission meeting at 6 p.m. in Alachua City Hall, James A. Lewis Commission Chambers. The public is invited to add input at the meeting.

The Commission approved a bid for the City’s Roadway Improvements Project. On Aug. 5, 2020, the City solicited formal bids from qualified vendors to furnish all necessary equipment, supervision, labor, materials and incidentals to complete the City of Alachua FY 2020 Roadway Improvements Project. The City received seven bids. V.E. Whitehurst & Sons, Inc. was the lowest bidder with a Base Bid of $137,445 and an Alternate 1 bid of $61,755, for a total of $199,200. The Commission approved the bid with the stipulation that it cannot exceed $250,000.

The last order of business at the meeting was to approve state funding for the City's portion of Alachua County CARES Act Plan. The State of Florida Division of Emergency Management allocated $46.9 million in Federal CARES Act funding to Alachua County. Subsequently, on July 7, 2020, the County approved the Alachua County CARES Act Plan. The Alachua County CARES Act Plan, as amended on Aug. 3, 2020, designates $159,000 to the City of Alachua for COVID-19 response related expenses. The award will be used for personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies, disinfecting public areas and facilities, quarantining health and public safety personnel, preparing public buildings for customers, homeless care, equipping public employees to telework and food delivery to housebound and elderly residents.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ In the theme of “bad news-good news,” Sharon Tugman, owner of Wisteria Cottage, recently closed her doors—that is the bad news.

On the good news side of the equation, Tugman donated all of the fine furnishings and remaining merchandise to the GFWC High Springs New Century Woman’s Club to help them earn enough money to make renovations to the clubhouse, which is located at 23674 West U.S. Highway 27.

On Aug. 22, the items went up for sale at the clubhouse and generated enough money to help them install a vinyl plank floor in part of the building to replace a worn and weary carpet. Some of the club members also chipped in to make that project possible.

Another project the club members took on is the installation of a concrete walkway at the front of the building.

“We are all so sorry to see Wisteria Cottage close as we know visitors and residents enjoyed the store for many years,” said one club member, “but the funds were put to good use.”

As it turns out not everything was sold during that sale. It is likely that the rest of the items will be listed for sale at the City-Wide Yard Sale, if it happens this year. If that doesn’t happen, the items will be up for sale whenever the club members can set up another sale.

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ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ Florida’s Elder Options SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) program provides free, unbiased Medicare counseling and virtual Medicare classes to assist beneficiaries, families and caregivers.

Topics include: Medicare 101 (English & Spanish), Medicare Financial Assistance, Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, Medicare Part C - Medicare Advantage Plans, Medicare & COVID-19, Navigating Medicare.gov, SHINE & Preparing for Open Enrollment, and Be Scam Smart (English & Spanish).

To speak with a counselor or join in one of the classes: call 1-800-963-5337; visit www.floridashine.org for class dates and times; email shine@agingresources.org to receive your invitation to register.

Elder Options is a non-profit agency that administers funds from the Florida Department of Elder Affairs for senior services in a 16-county area (Alachua, Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Marion, Putnam, Sumter, Suwannee and Union counties). Elder Options, mandated by the Federal Older Americans Act, exists to promote the independence, dignity, health, and well-being of elder citizens; to plan, fund and administer a coordinated continuum of services; and to advocate for the needs of older Americans.

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